Leaked chats, documents and online materials have revealed that Atomwaffen Division (AWD) founder Brandon Clint Russell was secretly but tirelessly active as a white-power propagandist and organizer between his release from prison in 2021 and his arrest on charges of plotting terror attacks last week. The materials show Russell, 27, of Orlando, Florida, encouraging others to commit similar crimes to those he is now accused of, and advocating armed attacks on electricity, water and transport infrastructure. Like other white-power accelerationists, Russell promoted the strategy of attacking public infrastructure in the belief that it would trigger a crisis that would cause the collapse of “The System” – a term that accelerationists use for the status quo political order. The new charges were outlined in a criminal complaint filed by the FBI on Feb. 2 and unsealed on Feb. 6. The complaint accuses Russell and Sarah Beth Clendaniel – his alleged accomplice and apparent girlfriend – of planning and equipping themselves for attacks on electricity infrastructure in Maryland. Their trial on these charges is ongoing in Maryland’s federal court. Russell’s aim was a “cascading failure costing billions of dollars” that might deprive Baltimore of electricity for months, according to the complaint. While the document cites two encrypted chat platforms that Russell and Clendaniel allegedly used, it does not touch on Russell’s broader efforts to further radicalize other white-power activists and spur them on to violent, terroristic acts. (…) Later on July 16, in the same chat, “Ouroborus” forwarded a post from American Futurist, a neo-Nazi propaganda site maintained by former AWD chapter leader Jack Espinoza. At the time of reporting, American Futurist still listed Russell as a contributor. The caption on the American Futurist post read “pretty cool maps” and included links to “Open Railway Maps” and “Open Infrastructure Maps.” Both sites are based on Open Street Maps and show the locations of various infrastructure networks. Last week’s criminal complaint alleges that Sarah Clendaniel twice sent the same sites to the FBI’s confidential informant. “American Futurist” denied knowledge of Russell’s alleged plot in a Telegram post last Saturday. However, following previous attacks on power stations, the publication has itself shared links to the same sites Russell is accused of sharing with the FBI’s confidential informant.
via vice: LEAKED CHATS, DOCUMENTS SHOW ATOMWAFFEN FOUNDER’S PATH TO TERROR PLOT